Liquid pressure remote control system



Mar bf E. c. s. CLENCH LIQUID PRESSURE REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM 4 Filed March 11, 1939 5 Shets-Sheet 1 Ibrgr) in r March 25, 1941. E. c. s. CLENCH LIQUID PRESSURE REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM Filed March 11, 1939 3 Sheets-She t 2 .Zbrezzzaf g5. (/6061 v 3 M pm lily/s.

March 25, 1941.

E. C. S. CLENCH LIQUID PRESSURE REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM 3 SheetSTShBet :5

Filed March 11 1959,

Patented Mar. 25, 1941 PATENT OFFICE LIQUID PRESSURE REMOTE CONTROL SYSTEM Edward Claude Shakespeare Clench, London,

England, assignor to Automotive Products Company Limited, London, England Application March 11, 1939, Serial No. 261,335 In Great Britain March 12, 1938 2 Claims.

This invention relates to liquid pressure remote control systems.

It is the object of the present invention to provide an improved form and construction of liquid pressure remote control system of the kind in which a manually actuated transmitter pump is normally adapted to operate a valve device controlling the flow of pressure liquid from a source to a hydraulic motor, which latter operates the rudder of a ship or any oher remotely disposed member which is to be moved. In particular, the invention sets out to provide an arrangement by which the working of the manually operated transmitter pump is rendered relatively light, but said pump is nevertheless sensitive to the liquid pressure required for the actuation of the hydraulic motor. Further, the improved system is automatic inso far as the control valve device is adapted to operate in the manner of a hunting vave, the movement of the hydraulic motor during each change of setting being proportional to the extent to which the transmitter pump is operated.

In order to render the manually operated transmitter pump sensitive to the load encountered by the hydraulic motor, an arrangement is provided such that the pressure of the liquid passing to the hydraulic motor tends to build up pressure in the pipe lines of the manually operated transmitter pump, thereby causing the load upon the latter to vary in accordance with the pressure of the liquid fed to the hydraulic motor from the source. I

It is a further object of the present invention to provide means for counteracting the pressure rise produced in the system by the actuation of.

bodiment thereof when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

Figure l is a diagram showing the components and connections of the system;

Figure-2 is a fragmentary view of the control valve device with the parts in their operative positions; a I

Figure 3 is a plan view of one construction of a control valve device shown partly in section:

Figure 4 is a sectional elevation taken on the line 4-4 of Figure 3; and

Figures 5 and 6 are fragmentary sectional elevations taken on the lines 55 and 6-6 respec- 5 tively of Figure 3. I

The system shown in Figures 1 and 2 comprises briefly a motor driven pump or other convenient continuous source of pressure liquid indicated at A adapted to feed said liquid through a pipe connection I0 and a control valve device B to a hydraulic motor unit C adapted to-operate the tiller II of a ship. Associated with the hydraulic motor C is an auxiliary piston and cylinder unit D which is connected with a manually operated reversible flow transmitter pump E adapted to control the whole system by taking charge of the valve device B. A reservoir F containing spare liquid serves for replenishing both of the pumps A and E. 20

The control valve device B comprises a cylindrical housing I2 containing at its middle part a piston valve member I3 which is formed with a pair of collars I4 and I5 adapted to control the passage of liquid from the pipe ID to pipes I6 and I1 leading to the hydraulic motor unit 0. When the member I3 is in its central position both of the pipes I6 and I! are closed but the delivery from the pump A is able to pass through holes I8 in the valve member I3 and thence flow through a passage I9 bored axially through said valve member, the liquid thus reaching pipes 20 and 2| leading to the inlet pipe 22 of the pump A and also to the reservoir F. In this way a free circulation of liquid is obtained when the system is inoperative. A pair of partition pistons 23 and 24 is provided within the housing I2 one at each end thereof, saidpistons having conical or frustoconical portions 25 and 26 respectively which are adapted to engage within the corresponding ends of the bore I9 so as to block the latter completely when the control valve device B is operative. In the position shown in Figure 1 however the pistons 23 and-24 .are retracted and permit liquid to escape from bothends of the bore I9. Stems 21 and 28 formed upon the pistons 23 and 24 are slidably mounted in the end walls of the' housing I2, and thus produce two substantially annular working spaces 29 and 39 which are connected by pipes 33 and, 34 with the two-ends of the auxiliary cylinder and piston unit D. Pipes 3| and 32, which are coupled tothe pipes'33 and 34, connect thespaces 29 and 30 with the transmitter pump E. The auxiliary cylinder and piston unit D comprises a cylinder 35 which is held stationary and is fitted with a slidable piston 36 carried by a piston rod-31, the. latter being connected with the tiller ll conveniently by a pin and slot connection 33. As the tiller I I moves angularly, therefore, the piston 3! slides along the cylinder 35, thus drawing in liquid through one of the pipes 33 and 34 and rejecting liquid through the other pipe according to the direction in which the tiller I I is moving. 7

The hydraulic motor unit has a fixed piston rod 39'and a cylinder 43 which is slidable upon said rod, said cylinder being connected with the tiller I l to operate the latter through the medium of a pin and slot connection 4|. A piston- 42 which is fixed upon the piston rod 33 divides the interior of the cylinder 43 into two working spaces indicated at 43 and 44, these being arranged to communicate with pipe lines 48 and 48 through passages 41 and 43 extending through the piston rod 39 from each end thereof as shown. Thus pressure liquid fed through the Pipe I moves" the cylinder 40 to the left, and the of pressure liquid through the pipe line 46 similarly causes the cylinder 40 to move towards the right.

An interlocking valve device of the known form is conveniently incorporated and isindicated at G in Figure 1, said device being arranged to prevent movement of the tiller ll except by the influence of pressure liquid fed through the pipe lines 45 and 46. A pair of mushroom valves 4! and are slidably mounted in housings ii and 52 so as normally to isolate the pipe lines 45 and 46 from the pipes It and I1 respectively. Thevalves 49 and 50 are provided with pistons -53 and 54 which slide within -the housings ii and 52 and are subject to the pressure in the pipes I1 and I6 respectively owing to the provision of interconnecting passages 55 and II. When the system is inoperative the cylinder 4| cannot move in either direction as the valves 4! and 60 prevent liquid from being expelled, but should pressure liquid be fed through the pipe It for example, it'not only passes-the mushroom valve 49 but also exerts a downward force upon the piston 54 which opens the other mushroom valve 50 and enables the working liquid to be returned by thehydraulic motor 0.

Assuming that the pump A is being driven the method-oi operation is as follows: To move the tiller II to the left the transmitter pump E is rotated so as to cause liquid to flow through the pipe 32 and into the annular working space 3|,

' thus forcing the partition piston 24 to the left.

The frusto-conical portion 26 thereof blocks the right hand end of the bore l8 and forces the control valve member i3 also to the left until its left hand end also becomes blocked by the frustoconical portion 25 of the partition piston 23. This prevents the liquid fed through the pipe it from passing into the pipes 23 and 2i but the displacement of the valve member l3 has uncovered the end of the pipe l6 as shown in Figure 2, thus enabling the pressure liquid from the pump A to pass into the pipe l6 and thence through the pipe line 45 to the working space 43 of the hydraulic motor C. The cylinder 4|! together with the tiller ii are thus moved to the left and simultaneouslycause the piston 36 also to be moved to the left, thus drawing in liquid from the pipe 34. Assuming that the transmitter pump E has only been operated to a predetermined extent, it will be apparent that the piston 36 will withdraw liquid from the working space 30, thus causing the partition piston to free itself from the end of the valve member i3 and consequently restoring the connection between the pipe II and the pipes 23, 2|. In this way the pump A is again able to circulate liquid freely until such time as the transmitter pump E is next operated.

It will .be seen that, when the transmitter pump E is operated to move the valve member If away from its centralized position, the pressure produced by the pump A acts in some measure to oppose further movement of said transmitter pump, and as a consequence the feel" of thetransmitter pump gives the operator some idea of the resistance which is being offered to the movement of the tiller II. This is primarily because the pressure liquid from the pump A passes through the holes I! in the valve member l3 and acts upon the extremity of the frustoconical portion of the partition piston which is moved by the transmitter pump, say the portion 26 in Figure 2, so that the operator has to maintain sui'llcient pressure in the space 33 in order to hold the piston 24 against the end of the valve member II. The liquid pressure necessary to hold the piston 24 in this position however need not be very great, as that part of the area of the piston 24 upon which the pressure in the space 33 acts'can readily be made many times greater than the cross-sectional area of the bore l9. If the ratio of these areas is say five to one it will be apparent that the operator will have to rotate the transmitter pump E sufficient to produce approximately one fifth of the pressure that he desires to be present in the pipe line 45 or 43 actuating the hydraulic motor unit C.

The system is. also arranged so that in the event of the pump A being inoperative the hydraulic motor 0 can still be worked by the transmitter pump E, although at a very much slower rate than usual. For this purpose a pipe indicated in broken lines at 59 and having a lightly loaded non-return valve til joins the pipe with the pipe ll, while a similar pipe I having a nonreturn valve 32 forms a connection between the pipe 34 and the pipe I. Thus, when the transmitter pump E is rotated to deliver liquid through the pipe 32 said liquid passes as before into the space 33 at the end of the control valve device B, and urges the piston 24, the valve l3 and the piston 23 all towards the left so that they occupy the positions shown in Figure 2. The liquid also passes the non-return valve 32, and as it cannot flow to the pump A owing to the provision of a non-return valve 53 in the pipe connection I. said liquid is forced to flow into the pipe line 45, thus actuating the hydraulic motor C. Liquid rejected from the working space 44 can, of course, pass through the pipe line 46 and back to the reservoir F by way of the pipes i1 and 2|. By rotating the transmitter pump E in the opposite direction the parts 23, I3 and 24 of the control valve are moved to the right, and as a consequence the pressure liquid passes the non-return valve ill to actuate the hydraulic motor C in the opposite direction. In order to prevent an excessive pressure being built up when the hydraulic motor is being actuated, relief valves 64 and ii are connected across the pipes I6 and Il as indicated diagrammatically in Figure 1, the springs of said valves being relatively strong so as to prevent the valves from opening under the effect of the normal working pressure.

Figures 3 to 6 show a constructional form of control valve working in the manner hereinbefore described, and similar reference numerals are used to indicate the various parts. The housing i2 is bored longitudinally for the reception of the valve member l3 and is formed at its upper part with a boss 66 accommodating the non-retum valve 63. The two ends of the valve member l3 are adapted to be closed as before by frustoconical projections 25 and 26 upon partition pistons 23 and 24, the stem portions 21 and 28 of the latter being arranged to slide within sleeves indicated at 61 and 68 respectively. These sleeves are acted upon by coiled compression springs 69 and 10 which serve as buffers, and which enable a resilient axial pressure to be exerted upon the valve member l3 when it is disposed in its operative position. A connection II is intended to be joined to the reservoir and communicates inside the housing I2 with four passages 20a, 20b, Ma and 2 lb serving the same purpose as the passages 2|! and 2| in Figure 1. A pair of pipe connections Ilia and Ila are used for connection to the pipe lines [6 and II respectively, and terminate within the housing in ports Nb and l (b adapted to be closed simultaneously by the collars l4 and is when the valve member I8 is in its central position. Similarly unions 33a and 34a communicate with the working spaces 29 and 30 respectively and are used for connecting to the transmitter pump E and the auxiliary piston and cylinder unit D. A pair of bleed plugs 12 and 13 enable air to be readily withdrawn from the spaces 29 and 30 when the installation is being filled with liquid. The arrangement of the valves 60, 62, 64 and 65 is shown in Figures 5 and 6.

a The improved system is light to operate in view of the fact that the main part of the work in actuating the hydraulic motor is efiected by the power driven pump or equivalent source of liquid pressure, but the transmitter unit by which the operator controls the action is nevertheless subject in a small degree to fluctuations of pressure in the main pipe lines, so that in addition the transmitter pump gives an impressionof lievliness which assists in the precise manipulation of the system. The invention may obviously be applied to systems other than those used for the steering mechanism of ships and the construction of the parts may be varied to suit requirements.

I claim:

1. In a liquid pressure remote control system having a motor unit fed with liquid under pressure by a continuously driven main pump, the provision of controlling means comprising a reversible flow manually operable transmitter pump, a double acting piston and cylinder structure connected to opposite sides of said transmitter pump by means of a pair of pipe lines and having either the piston or the cylinder operated mechanically by movement of the motor unit to provide a follow-up action. and a control valve having a cylindrical housing, a piston valve memher slidable therein and formed with a. pair of spaced flanges controlling ports in the housing leading to the motor unit, an axial passageway extending from end to end of the piston valve member andv communicating permanently with the space between the flanges, a connection from the main pump also to said space between the flanges, said axial passageway providing normally a free bypass back to the pump, a pair of partition pistons slidable in the housing and providing at the ends thereof a pair of working spaces connected respectively with opposite sides of the transmitter pump, and a tapering projection formed oneach partition piston and arranged to close the corresponding end of the axial passageway in the piston valve member, so that operation of said transmitter pump causes one of the partition pistons to move the piston valve member to a position in which both ends of the axial passageway are closed by the tapering projections, thereby diverting the continuous supply of pressure liquid to the motor unit, but causing the pressure of said liquid to act upon a part of the area of said partition piston, thus counteracting in part the force applied to said partition piston by liquid from the transmitter pump.

2. In a liquid pressure remote control system having a motor unit fed with liquid under pressure by a continuously driven main pump, the provision for controlling means comprising a reversible flow manually operable transmitter pump, a double acting piston and cylinder structure connected to opposite sides of said-transmitter pump by means of a pair of pipe lines and having either the piston or the cylinder operated mechanically by movement of the motor unit to provide a follow-up action, and a control valve having a cylindrical housing with ports therein, a piston valve member slidable in said housing to control flow through said ports, said piston valve member having an axial passageway therethrough by which the continuous supply of pressure liquid is normally free to return to the pump, an independent slidable partition piston mounted within said housing at each end of said piston piston thus counteracting in part the force applied to said partition piston by liquid from the transmitter pump. EDWARD CLAUDE SHAKESPEARE CLENCH. 

